Photographer Elina Brotherus orchestrates a miscellaneous collection of photographs examining topics of femininity, life events, portraiture and landscape amalgamated in simple but high impactful compositions, fig. 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Brotherus' work embodies an autobiographical approach with a relatability to her audience through the comedy, organic honesty and familiarity: 'I was using myself as a model but the photos didn’t talk about what was going on in my life. I was an image-maker, dealing with formal, visual and art-historical issues.' (Brotherus, undated) The issues handled by Brotherus, especially in Artist and Her Model (2005-2011) fig. 5 and 6 and Carpe Fucking Diem (2011-2015) fig. 7 and 8, epitomise her strategic use of juxtaposition of simple compositions and profound conceptualisation.
'In her photographs there is a closeness you feel to her but also a cool conceptual distance.This complicates viewing the work in terms of self-portraiture, landscape or a diary, and so photographs that can often appear quiet and straightforward on first encounter become denser and laden with histories as you spend time with them.'(Bright: NOW AND THEN, published in Elina Brotherus: Artist and her Model, Le Caillou bleu, Brussels 2012.)
The paradigmatic choice Brotherus captures in her compositions constructs a social commentary of intercommunication between subjects enabling viewer to speculate on extensive narrative. Additionally, the Brotherus fabricates a relatability through her imagery with the schematic organisation of composition. The simplicity of the composition intrigues the viewer to draw on personal factors of socialisation to add meaning and narrative, the ambiguity of the imagery again, enables the viewer to connect, ''I was using myself as a model but the photos didn’t talk about what was going on in my life.' (Brotherus, undated) the ambiguity displayed in Brotherus' work appeals to the connective nature of people due to our need to connect with exposed material to create connection. The connection Brotherus enables the viewer to negotiate, as mentioned above, appeals to the need for connection 'We know that tuning in to another mind, another self, another brain, is absolutely essential to the development of the self. The self is, in fact, almost entirely a social and interpersonal creation' (Cope, 2019, prologue) the viewer's need to connect to Brotherus work tackles the complications of society, conceptualising reality experienced by diverse body of people adding a reliability for the viewer to draw connection too.
Brotherus project One Minute Sculptures (2017) fig. 9 and 10, embodies her comedic and humorous satire aesthetic. The project refute the avant garde stigmatisation of art,
'Its aim was to rebel against the vain and elitist climate of the established art industry by substituting expensive materials and academism with humour and chance. Her One Minute Sculptures (2017) series displays this best.' (Trunova, undated) The rebellious and insubordinate attitude displayed in body of work in comparison to earlier projects like Model Studies (2002-2005) fig. 11 and 12, see opposing aesthetic values and concepts.
These changes in conceptualisation reflect Brotherus bravery in her experimentation but also empower the rebellion of elitist art ideological values.
'At the same time I finished my previous university studies of chemistry and my first marriage. It was a major liberation on all fronts and it had to become visible in my photography. Then, for ten years, I did other things - I was interested in painting, the way artists look at their models and how to represent this in a picture.' (Brotherus, undated) The liberations Brotherus experienced are reflected through her imagery and the maturity of highly conceptualised ideas in her imagery. Fig. 9 epitomises the nonconformity of her later explorations, the project One Minute Sculptures (2017) draws on influence from Erwin Wurm's One Minute Sculptures (1997), Brotherus focus is shifted from Wurm's concept creating imagery for exhibition space but rather to the practicality of producing these images, however the photographic matter immortalise these sculpture exceeding the one minute sculpture concept.
'Brotherus transfers Wurm’s ideas into the natural space of the landscape and translates his instructions into ingenious photographic compositions, which are permanently recorded and thus exceed the time limit of one minute.' (Museum Kunst der Westküste and Michael Imhof Verlag, Wyk auf Föhr 2021)
Brotherus use of primary colour within fig. 9 is complimentary of the simplistic concept, the primary colours connote an element of infancy, the infancy is furthered inferred through the negative space surrounding Brotherus as well as the body positioning. The minimalist composition removes any distraction, stripping the concept back to the basics, the negative space frames Brotherus in a slight off centre position enabling the leading lines from both right and left to draw the viewer to the main focal point of Brotherus' portrait. In addition, the position of Brotherus with knees on the sofa emulates a child like position of children jumping on the sofa, the position paired with the primary colour scheme imply a sense of innocence but again relatability. Brotherus' relatability is demonstrated through the bag over her head, the removal of identity allows the audience to speculate their negotiated meaning fabricating their connection to the photographer. Furthermore, the pairing of removal of identity and the child position add an element of nostalgia to the photograph allowing connection between photographer and viewer.
Reference list:
Brotherus, E., n.d. Elina Brotherus. [online] Elina Brotherus. Available at: <http://www.elinabrotherus.com> [Accessed 29 June 2022].
Brotherus, E., 2012. Elina Brotherus. Brussels: Le Caillou bleu.
Cope, S., 2019. Deep human connection. Hay House.
Trunova, O., n.d. Elina Brotherus - Finnish Photographer - Hundred Heroines. [online] Hundred Heroines. Available at: <https://hundredheroines.org/heroine/elina-brotherus/> [Accessed 29 June 2022].
Tate.org. n.d. One Minute Sculptures, Erwin Wurm. [online] Available at: <https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/wurm-one-minute-sculptures-p82013> [Accessed 29 June 2022].
Image List-
All images available on: http://www.elinabrotherus.com/photography
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